


Queer? Different.

by KarenHardy (PhoenixSR)



Series: Hardy Three Mysteries [10]
Category: Hardy Boys - Franklin W. Dixon
Genre: Coming Out, F/M, M/M, Multi, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 10:57:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20581382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhoenixSR/pseuds/KarenHardy
Summary: Joe has always been different from his siblings. But he thinks that's okay.





	Queer? Different.

Joe was different than his siblings. Sure, Karen was a rascal on the best of days, but Frank was known to have a strict streak in him, and Joe was just-  _ different _ . He was the odd one out. The spare son, the rebellious middle child, with big dreams too high in the sky for him to catch.   
So smoking became an escape. He didn’t mean to fall into the rebel mold, the rebel mold snuck up on him before he knew what was happening.

A little drink here and there aided the facade.   
He was a softie, really. The varsity jacket and pretty cheerleader girlfriend was just a way of armoring himself.

How was he supposed to tell his family he was not only pan, but  _ poly _ ?

His lovely girlfriend Iola met all their expectations. Female, pretty, smart… How was he supposed to tell them about Vijay, his video game developing, nerdy, hipster boyfriend?

Now, Joseph Hardy was many things, but his reputation as a player was pure rumor. He and Iola had taken breaks to see other people, sure. That was how Joe’d met his boyfriend in the first place.

He loved them both. How could he tell his family?

He didn’t think he could until his sister came out as bi. She was dating her best friend since childhood, Mia Prito. 

His parents took it amazingly well, and Joe confessed to his sister a few weeks later. He remembered how he’d sighed in relief at how ecstatic she’d been to not be the only one. 

She helped him come out to their parents about a month and a half later, and again, his parents took it swimmingly. Vijay came over for dinner the next night.

So when all was said and done, a cigarette glowed in the night, the last one, put out under his boot, as he went back inside to his wife, daughter, and the other love of his life. It was over, and the rebel mold fell away, revealing nothing but a man. An old man, an Americana.


End file.
